Games › Puzzle › Puzzle + Trains
Should I ship a Train Puzzle game?
Puzzle + Trains
Of 27 developers who shipped a Train Puzzle game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 56 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.1k, ×5.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $180k, ×297 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 56 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.1k (exactly $3,116) |
| Top 25% | $28k (exactly $27,881) |
| Top 5% | $187k (exactly $186,507) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 27 |
| Released games | 109 |
| Announced | 56 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue down 60% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Puzzle; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Building, Management
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Cartoony, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 5,897 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 6 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Puzzle with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Medical SimFair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + VampiresFair
- + CatsFair
- + DemonsFair
- + God GameFair
- + RomanceFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + LemmingsFair
Comparable games
Mini Metro 2015 · $3.8M 
Beholder: Conductor 2025 · $1.9M 
Rail Route 2024 · $1.8M 
Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express 2023 · $1.3M 
RAILGRADE 2023 · $1.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Mini Metro | older | $9.99 | 12,800 95% | 384k | $3.8M (exactly $3,836,160) | Dinosaur Polo Club |
| | Beholder: Conductor | $13.99 | 4,532 91% | 136k | $1.9M (exactly $1,902,080) | Alawar | |
| | Rail Route | older | $24.99 | 2,400 88% | 72k | $1.8M (exactly $1,799,280) | Bitrich.info |
| | Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express | older | $39.99 | 1,080 82% | 32k | $1.3M (exactly $1,295,676) | Microids Studio Lyon |
| | RAILGRADE | older | $29.99 | 1,205 84% | 36k | $1.1M (exactly $1,084,138) | Minakata Dynamics |
 | Train Valley 2 | older | $14.99 | 2,356 90% | 71k | $1.1M (exactly $1,059,493) | Alexey Davydov, Sergey Dvoynikov, Timof… (Alexey Davydov, Sergey Dvoynikov, Timofey Shargorodskiy, Flazm) |
 | Train Valley | older | $9.99 | 2,621 89% | 79k | $786k (exactly $785,514) | Alexey Davydov, Sergey Dvoynikov, Timof… (Alexey Davydov, Sergey Dvoynikov, Timofey Shargorodskiy, Flazm) |
 | Railbound | older | $12.99 | 1,818 94% | 55k | $708k (exactly $708,475) | Afterburn |
 | Station to Station | older | $17.99 | 1,239 89% | 37k | $669k (exactly $668,688) | Galaxy Grove |
 | Subway Midnight | older | $9.99 | 1,155 79% | 35k | $346k (exactly $346,154) | Bubby Darkstar |
 | Craftlings | $19.99 | 311 86% | 9.3k | $187k (exactly $186,507) | ARIANO Games GmbH | |
 | Super Loco World - Cozy Train Automation | $9.99 | 329 76% | 9.9k | $99k (exactly $98,601) | Andrii Bychkovskyi | |
 | Train Valley Origins | $11.95 | 266 75% | 8.0k | $95k (exactly $95,361) | Flazm | |
 | Moses & Plato - Last Train to Clawville | $19.99 | 104 88% | 3.1k | $62k (exactly $62,369) | The Wild Gentlemen | |
 | Spooky Express | $14.99 | 80 98% | 2.4k | $36k (exactly $35,976) | Draknek and Friends | |
 | Constracktion | $14.99 | 62 66% | 1.9k | $28k (exactly $27,881) | Lapioware | |
 | Blitzkrieg Express | $4.99 | 121 74% | 3.6k | $18k (exactly $18,114) | Maksym Melnyk | |
 | Mysteries of Old Tokyo | $12.99 | 41 100% | 1.2k | $16k (exactly $15,978) | Bolerosoft | |
 | The Lilliput Workshop | $7.99 | 51 88% | 1.5k | $12k (exactly $12,225) | Cotton Game |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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